An aggressive offspinner seldom finds a place in South African cricket but Simon Harmer was determined to be different. He carved a niche for himself at the Warriors franchise after he moved to the Eastern Cape from his home on the Highveld, where he was schooled at Pretoria Boys' High School, the alma mater of Eddie Barlow.

Harmer made his first-class debut for provincial Eastern Province in the 2009/10 summer and was soon promoted to the franchise team. Two seasons later, he was topped the first-class competition bowling charts with 44 wickets at 31.75 for the Warriors but could not stake a claim for higher honours with Paul Harris in the national side.

Instead, Harmer made regular appearances for the A side and was left to work on other areas of his game. He added lower-order impetus with the bat to his repertoire, with a first-class hundred and several fifties, but still could not break through.

It was only when the South African attitude towards spin turned, and they began to look to include more than one in a squad, that Harmer came into contention again. But by then, he had a competitor. In the 2013/14 season, Harmer was the second-highest wicket-taker in the 2013/14 season after Dane Piedt - and Piedt was selected ahead of him to tour Zimbabwe in August 2014.

Harmer only his find his way into the South African side when Piedt was injured during the home series against West Indies the following season. He made his international debut in the 2015 New Year's Test and too seven wickets in the match. He toured with South Africa to Bangladesh in July that year and was included as one of three spinners to play against India in November 2015.
ESPNcricinfo staff

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